For the Sake of Those Who Hate
by AllieWay
Summary: Naruto fails in her attempt to stop the Infinite Tsukoyomi but is not cast under its spell because her ideal world is one where she doesn't exist. She is left in a world alone, broken but determined to find a jutsu that can reverse the damage done. She soon realizes she is not alone and is left with a snake man who appears to be more confused than amused. FemNaruto/Orochimaru?
1. Prologue

**Author's notes**

 **Hiya! This one will be quite dark and heavy so I'm giving you a warning now. This is all taking place post Madara with most of this chapter being a flashback to the actual fight. Later chapters won't be as wordy as this one is but a prologue is a prologue. Hope you enjoy!**

 **I do not own Naruto. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.**

(Naruto POV)

They always say that people can always change; and, whoever _they_ are either disillusioned or dishonest, and I was one of _them_. I guess the idea is just too intoxicating to give up. People lie. Lovers cheat. Friends betray. The idea that people, sometimes people that you truly care about, can do such hateful things and have no desire to make reparations, is just too awful admit. The world can't be that unfair, right?

All this heavy thinking is giving me a headache. The bottle, only half full, sloshed as I set it on the ground. The sky wasn't bright red as it was a few hours ago. It had settled to a dull orange. I gave an exasperated chuckle. If Madara knew me better, I'd say he did it on purpose, but he was just as surprised as I was when his grand plan worked better than he thought.

/ _Flashback_ /

Pain was the only thing that resonated within me, as I clawed for air. My vision was covered in dark spots that threatened to take me under. Why? Why was he so strong? I glared as Madara floated above our heads. Sakura was barely standing and Kakashi just looked, exhausted. Sasuke was unreadable intently listening to Madara's claims.

"A world where no one has to die. Is what I offer so bad young Naruto?" Madara grandly motioned to my hobbled state, "Is it such an abhorrent idea that you would rather die—would rather your teammates die than allow my plans to come to fruition? Noble deaths only work when the cause that your die for is noble. If not it simply becomes a pointless death, like so many before you."

I bared my teeth and snapped out, "A life that's an illusion is nothing more than a lie. It doesn't solve anything! You are a coward clinging to life, scared that you might have to pay for your crimes in the afterlife!" I coughed out the last statement and attempted to flare my chakra.

"My crimes….Like the crimes Sasuke committed."

"How dare yo-" I felt rage seep into my every fiber, "Sasuke is nothing like you!"

"Oh really now? I knew you were lacking in the intelligence department, but I didn't think you were a complete fool. Sasuke has betrayed you and your team multiple times even for nothing more than his own personal gain. There is nothing saying he won't do it again once all this is over. Then who is living a life full of lies?" Madara smirked at my face contorted in anger.

"He would never! Right, Sasuke?" I turned towards my best friend desperately hoping to see some flicker of comradery, and only seeing a mask of apathy with a hint of..guilt? My eyes widened. No, no, no. Not again.

"Please.."I whispered barely audible over the wind crashing through the battlefield.

Sasuke turned away. I blocked it out. I could compartmentalize. I always have. I felt a few tears stream down my face but wiped them harshly away. Now is not the time. Plus Sasuke wasn't in his right mind…right?

"That,,,,That doesn't matter right now! What matters is defeating you!" I screamed trying to block out the added pain. I can't doubt myself not right now. Madara couldn't possible know Sasuke better than me.

Madara gave a look that could only be described as condescending, "You actually believe that once this is all over, you'll have everything you've ever wanted? You would return powerful, a goddess among men. Do you think that will finally breed respect, or will it do what it's always been proven to do breed fear?"

"Talk is cheap!" I retorted but I couldn't help but glance over my shoulder at the two people behind me. Was that pity in their eyes? Would they fear me too or is it just Madara's mind tricks?

"In my world you can have whatever it is you've truly desired Respect, appreciation, a change to do things differently." He turned to Sasuke, "A chance to live a life with ones long past. A chance to apologize."

My chakra flickered as memories flooded my mind. Flickers of loneliness, frustration, and resignation all vied for my attention as I attempted to hold my eyes level with his gaze. My life was of little consequence, if it meant the happiness of others even if it was a life of fear and neglect.

In the time it took for me to recollect my thoughts Madara had set his plan into motion. The moon flashed an even deeper red and as I looked to Sasuke for a plan I saw that Madara's words hadn't only affected me. Sasuke just stared back.

"What are you doing teme?! We need to think of a plan or is a fantasy world good enough for you!? What about what everyones done for you? What I've done for you? "  
Sasuke opened his mouth and shut it again a number of emotions crossings his normally empty eyes for a split second. He refocused and attempted to bring forth Susuno'o but then he fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

No. I thought as the illusion pulled everyone in. I could feel it tugging at my mind offering my perfect world. As it took over I could feel my muscles give in to my exhaustion. My knees hit the ground as I tried to focus on anything other than the overwhelming presence trying to take over.

The new world came into focus. It was a Konoha filled with life and vibrant colors. Minato and Kushina were conversing by the front steps of the Hokage tower, Kushina yelling about something Mikoto said and wildly flailing as she retold the tale to her doting husband, who was carrying a bouquet of flowers. Jiraiya hung back in a nearby doorway, without a doubt, waiting for his student to be free from his hot headed wife in order to interact with him. A silent smile was on his face as he wrote down some idea that would no doubt become a best seller. Kakashi came around the corner walking his pack of dogs while carrying a fresh set of flowers similar to the one Minato had. He looked nonplussed with the situation and interrupted the lovebirds not being nearly accommodating as Jiraiya was trying to be. Once Kushina scolded Kakashi on his manners, they all four went along the same path towards the outskirts of the village.

 _Is this my ideal world?_ So far it looks it. They breathe, laugh, smile, and love, unburdened by guilt or shame. I was pulled along their path, but no one seemed to notice me.

The group picked up a few more members along the way. Mikoto called out to Kushina with a small Sasuke at her side and a young Itachi holding three flowers, one for the each of them I suppose. A somewhat sober Tsunade came silently behind the rest, in a mood so somber not even Jiraiya struck up a conversation. Hiruzen and his young grandson met the group at their destination. A large field.  
The field was nothing special or extraordinary. It had decent foliage and a good view of the village but it was nothing group worthy. The group all conversed telling jokes and sharing ideas, until it quieted down and a melancholy fog swept over the small crowd. Kushina bit her lip as tears threatened to fall out of her eyes. The collective sent a look of empathy and looked to Minato. Minato put his arm around Kushina as I took notice of a small face plate of stone set into the field.

Kushina cried into Minato's shirt, wailing like a wounded animal. She continued crying unabashedly while the others looked on, obviously not wanting to intrude on such a personal moment.

As she slowly collected herself and her shoulders went from heaving to only shaking, she shakily whispered into Minato's chest, "She would have been seven today."

I looked at the stone and read Naruto Namikaze Born and Deceased October 13. She brightened the world if only for a minute. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Everything was laid out but I didn't see it. My ideal world was a world, in which I had never existed. My parents would mourn on days such as this but they would move one, far beyond the pair their deaths would have caused. Minato would rule as a just Hokage. He would have settled the Uchiha dispute. They would have…been better off without me.

As I came to that realization the world began to shatter. What's going on? Wasn't I supposed to be trapped here? As a ghost or something. Couldn't he at least have the decency to play fair in victory. I felt my entire body, or what was left of it be hurled out of the world as their faces faded out for the last time.

When I awoke, I was back in my world. Everyone else was gone, no they were simply locked away in that strange tree. What even happened?

"Did I break it?" I blearily asked myself.

"In a way, I suppose."

I gasped and watched as Madara hovered in front of me. "You BASTARD! You are scum! You deserve to rot! And plus you look like you're wearing a dress!"

"It's a robe"

"I don't care."

"You are a lot more vindictive without your friends." He chortled while he resumed a relaxed position.

"And you seem awfully calm for someone about to die." I snarled as I summoned my chakra, blue flames licking around me.

"Am I? If I remember correctly you couldn't defeat me without your friends, and now I am feeding off of their power as well as my own" He chided as if I were a dumb puppy, "I have won. Things went according to plan but I didn't account for" he motioned "you. Naruto Uzumaki the world's most unpredictable kunoichi. A name you live up to rather spectacularly."

I calmed at his statement. I at the very least needed to buy time. "I would hate to disappoint."

Madara's eyes glinted with amusement, "Perhaps. But this time it has worked against you."

"I don't see how. I broke your thingamajig." I smirked as I returned his amused look.

He didn't waver, "Yes, but now what? Your friends are forever trapped in their perfect world. You were incompatible with the Infinite Tsukiyomi because your ideal world was one where you didn't exist. But you see, this makes it all the better." He smiled maliciously.

"You are now alone. No one else in the world had the conviction you did. Most people superficially think that way but don't fully encompass their ideals on that. No one is that altruistic. Maybe that's why you were so willing to sacrifice yourself." He contemplated as I reached up to perform a jutsu.

In my weakened state he easily grabbed my hand and snapped it back. He lightly whispered in my ear "You wouldn't accept my dream, so now you'll live in a nightmare."

/ _End Flashback_ /

I kicked the bottle I had set down and listened to the glass echo as it fell down the cliff side. I had never appreciated all the noise of Konoha, even the fearful whispers. Now it was just silent. Everyone was gone. Would they even want me to save them? Bring them into this hell? I don't even know anymore. I can't defeat Madara without Kurama and the others. He won't even come and kill me himself. Coward. I hiccupped

I slowly looked up and glared at the sky. I cant give up. Not yet. I have all the time in the world now. I can find some sort of technique to fix all this. I have heard of ones that turn back time, all of them forbidden of course but who was around to tell me to not use them perhaps one to cross dimensions to get Kurama back. They were long shots, but all my ideas right now are feeling like long shots. No one was around to help. No one was around to save. This was my only purpose feeble as it was. But dammit if it wasn't something.

"I just wish I knew someone who would know where to start." I said to myself as I bit the end of my thumb. As I sank deeper in though I heard a rustling in the trees to my back and turned in attention to face the creature. Madara? No he wants to see me suffer why would he interact with me? A creature? No it felt…human. As the person came into view I felt all hope sink to the unforgiving bottom of the sea.

"No…"I mouthed as he approached.

"Do you have any idea what happened? Where is everyone?" He questioned looking honestly perplexed though it was hard to tell under his hard suspicious gaze. He seemed irritated by his lack of knowledge more than anything and I couldn't hold in my laughter. It was impossible. Life truly hates me. I felt myself going from uncontrollable laughter to hyperventilating ( at least that's what Sakura called it).

He appeared unamused and getting more frustrated. There might have been a bit of mild concern but I couldn't care less.

"I know ninja work breeds insanity but normally it's not portrayed in this way. A sad case truly but I have no time for this." he began to turn away as I controlled my breathing and faced him head on.

"I guess you would know all about insanity." The one person who might be able to know where to start is the one person that's here in front of me. I should be happy, but I cant feel happy over all the other emotions I feel towards this man.

Orochimaru sucked at his teeth and raised an eyebrow as he quipped, "It doesn't take someone as observant as me to see when someone has completely come unhinged, as you have."

"What do you mean?!" I stumbled, still slightly tipsy, "I figured you of all people would understand!" I pointed at him with a cheeky smile with some of my hair in my other hand.

Orochimaru furrowed his brows and looked more confused than anger. That's odd. He appeared to be examining me head to toe and then after a moment of assessing that a. I wasn't a threat and b. maybe knew something he didn't.

He looked at me with a cold contemplating look and asked in a strained tone, "Have we met?"

Well, that sobered me up pretty quickly.


	2. Chapter 1

Orochimaru POV

The young blonde appeared to be frozen in what could only be described as pure disbelief. Her mouth hung open with her cheeks still lightly flushed from presumably, the contents of the bottle she just carelessly tossed. Despite all this, the girl was obviously a shinobi. The way she sensed him and assumed a defensive stance. The chakra flowing off of her in waves. How did someone like her go unnoticed by Konoha? Was she a foreigner? What was she doing here, better yet what was I doing here? My recent memories are all a blur. I remember leaving the bar after a completed mission get together. Jiraiya suggested them after we all hit Jonin. Tsunade agreed if only because she could drink and let herself go. The two of them would get loud and interact with others who had gone on their recent missions, while I would wait for the opportunity to leave. I was never one for loud get togethers, besides none of the other shinobi were comfortable around me. So, I would leave early, neither Tsunade nor Jiraiya would notice, they rarely bother with me anymore. They would soon fear me like everyone else, or worse forget me.

A pain flared in my head and I sucked in my teeth at my paranoid thoughts. Now was not the time. I glared at the scar faced blonde as she appeared to be processing some heavy information. She wore all her expressions on her face, unsuited for a shinobi, a kunoichi at that. After going through a myriad of emotions that went by so fast I wasn't able to register all of them, she appeared in front of me in a burst of extreme speed. Scratch that she was on me gripping my shirt like some sort of rabid animal with her feet digging into my hip bones.

I hissed as fury surged through my veins. She appeared unmoved with her naïve blue eyes holding my gaze. "What do you mean you haven't met me?! HOW DO YOU NOT REMEMBER? WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?" She screeched far too close to be good for my hearing.

How dare she grab me then proceed to yell at me. Why would she grab me? She doesn't seem afraid of me. Perhaps she doesn't know who I am or has me confused with someone else. On second thought, I scratched that previous statement. I've always been told I had a _distinct_ appearance, one not easily confused.

Perhaps my first assumption that she was absolutely out of her mind was correct. She began to appear put out and irritated. I hadn't realized I had mumbled those last thoughts. It's a bad habit Jiraiya used to tease me for. Sensei always said I simply had too many thoughts to stay caged in my head. I thought I had that nervous tick under control but no one is ever this close and I hate being touched so there are plenty of extenuating circumstances. She looked as if she was about to start another slew of either questions or curses when something caught her attention. She leaned forward towards my face and I leaned as far back as possible. All my alarms were flaring and I had half a mind to rip off this girls arms and instill the fear in her that everyone else had naturally.

"Get. Off. Now." I bit out as one hand reached for my katana and the other pried the girls nails from my top. Foreign, crazy, or just plain stupid didn't justify this absolute lack of tact. My thin patience was running thinner.

She was unfazed by my threat and my grip on her hand, and continued to stare at my face. Her bright blue eyes, unlike any I have seen in any clan, widened as she used her free hand to push hair off of my forehead. And that was when I broke her wrist.

Naruto POV

"SON OF A BITCH! MOTHERFUC-THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" I screeched as I cradled my healing broken wrist to my chest. This is difficult enough as it, without an amnesia ridden cobra having psychotic breaks WHEN IM TRYING TO HELP!"

Orochimaru had the decency to look shocked at her outburst for a second before his gaze turned lethal. He glowered at me as I righted my wrist and cut him off before he could retort, "I was trying to see that seal on your forehead." I reached forward to gesture to the seal.

Orochimaru dropped his glare and sent me a questioning look. He dropped his arm and begrudgingly stood still as I approached him again. I examined the seal that spread over his face. It swirled and circled like it was alive, flaring with foreign but familiar chakra. Perhaps one of Minato's seals, maybe when he was summoned with the Edo Tensei and Madara interfered. He severed the chakra connections and replaced them with his own. I watched as realization dawned on my father's face and as quickly as it appeared, faded, along with his free will.

I shook my head trying to shake the images out of my head. He was present so it would be safe to assume that it is Minato's work. The odd part would be why Orochimaru was fighting Minato. I hadn't really asked Sasuke about Orochimaru. I knew he had helped with the Edo Tensei but that was pretty much it. I didn't know that he was fighting. Did he join our side? Or did he just get dragged in?

"That's just great…", I muttered under my breath. From the parts of the seal I could decipher, this seal had age manipulation properties. An idea that Jiraiya dabbled in after he took interest in Tsunade's diamond seal. He never completed his work but apparently Minato had in his spare time. Not that I would know much about my father's work or train of thought. Damn, I miss Kurama. I need to check on my mindscape later. On top of that, there was a reversal character that seemed to only be half formed. It's free flowing which means it can be altered or removed another sign that something went awry in the application

BUT Orochimaru was no longer in his original body, during this battle. It must have screwed with the sealing since the sealing only had enough chakra to regress a normal shinobi. That means the chakra ran out before it could be completed, leaving Orochimaru at…..

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"What do you see? What about a seal? Who-"

"Just. Answer me."

Orochimaru looked incredibly irritated with my interruption and had that flicker of resignation flash across his face again. He closed his eyes breathed in and slowly, occasionally sucking his teeth in frustration, "I remember returning to Konoha and reporting to Sarutobi after a mission-" He searched my face with distrust. " I was heading back to my apartment and woke up here. Now I will repeat myself once more, What happened?"

I pulled my hand back and took in the honest frustration and confusion. While he still had his trade mark glare, he had genuine emotion underneath it. This man who stole my best friend and ruined so many lives hadn't yet, at least not in his current state. He couldn't fake the seal and I don't think Orochimaru would gain anything by tricking me. I feel sick. Too much happened today, I can't think straight.

As I rubbed my temples, I realized I hadn't answered him. I'm not sure what to say. You became a psychotic traitor who steals bodies but don't worry everyone is dead because of an even more psychotic man who collects body parts?

I steeled myself and inhaled deeply.

/

"—and that's why we need to find a jutsu to fix all this!." By the time I had finished my explanation I was panting heavily. I stuck with telling most of the truth. I explained the seal on his forehead, (at least what I could make of it) and the current situation revolving mostly around Madara's actions and the world we currently are in. I avoided any information surrounding his life, a detail that probably didn't go unnoticed by the perceptive twisted bastard- No, I had to keep telling myself that this wasn't the Orochimaru that I hated. I couldn't hold him responsible for crimes he didn't even know he committed. It wouldn't be fair.

Those thoughts didn't stop me from feeling torn, though, but after watching the occasional flickers of sorrow and other deep emotions behind his contemplative stare, I couldn't bring myself to hate him. This Orochimaru was still a Konoha shinobi, who was just told everyone he had ever cared about was either dead or captured. I never thought he cared about anyone other than himself and his research, but the little emotion that shone through his mask proved me wrong. Then again, I knew little about the events surrounding Orochimaru's life after becoming a Sannin, even less about the few years before he defected.

I, even, gave details about myself. That I was a Konoha kunoichi, daughter of Jiraiya's student, and (possibly still) current Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. There was no point in lying about those details. Orochimaru was far too perceptive and would figure them out eventually. If I lied this early on, it would ruin my credibility and his knowing now doesn't change much. It also helped confirm everything else I had mentioned.

After pinching the bridge of his nose and recollecting himself, Orochimaru attempted to verify all the information I was throwing at him, although the barren wasteland and red sky spoke for itself. He asked about every single fact, details about Konoha, my status, about Jiraiya, about my lineage. God, he was thorough or maybe just paranoid. I anwered all his questions, slightly wavering under his serious gaze a couple times. It might be best to befriend him. At the very least that means I could keep an eye on him or get information. Besides I'm great at making friends!

Eventually he seemed to have processed most of it, and moved so fast I couldn't stop him. He attempted to summon one of his snakes.

"WAI-" I yelled as he frowned at the cloud of smoke below him. OF COURSE, he would confirm with his summons. I panicked, his summons would know everything and I needed _this_ Orochimaru to help me. While the future Orochimaru knew more techniques and might know about a time reversal one, it wasn't worth the risk! He might just turn me into one of his experiments. My heart beat fast in my ears as I watched the smoke clear.

Orochimaru POV

I watched as the smoke cleared and the girl panicked behind me. While she seemed genuine, she was obviously holding back a good amount of details and I never trust someone at first glance, especially not a shinobi. She also appeared nervous whenever she mentioned information surrounding my current status. She was an ever flowing fountain of extremely rapid information when surrounding almost all other topics but stopped to edit her answers about me. Did she think I didn't notice?

My frown deepened as the smoke cleared to reveal...nothing. Whether it was the seal or this so called Madara's justu I couldn't summon my familiars. I heard the woman release a sigh of relief and turned to face her. Now she was my only source of information.

All her facts did line up. The sky was a burnt orange, despite it not being sunrise or sunset. I tried to dispel the genjustu multiple times but even after digging my nails into my arm I couldn't get free, leading me to believe this was indeed reality. I couldn't sense anyone else for miles, not even a civilian. The land that stretched beyond the cliff was barren and torn apart, matching her story of a long intense battle. I glanced to a piece of broken glass and caught my reflection in it. The seal still faintly glowed and swirled in the pattern she said.

The girl, herself, fit with all the information she gave. She was definitely from Konoha, and with the amount she knew had lived there many years. Her appearance looked eerily similar to one of Jiraiya's three genin, I forget his name. Her Jinchuriki status explains her massive dark chakra. The only other demon container I had met was from Kumo and he was….a character. She also healed at an astonishing rate, if that formerly broken wrist was anything to go by. The girl also appeared sincere and despite not being all together forth coming or trusting. She wasn't hostile and had no reason to come up with such an outrageous story to lure me someplace. She was energetic, loud, pretty, I suppose (according to Jiraiya I had no ability to judge beauty), but didn't appear to be a master planner or manipulator. All in all she was gratingly cheerful and annoying, BUT currently had no motive to be dangerous.

I straightened myself as I came to terms with it all. According to her Madara could not be defeated now that he merged with the juubi. So her time reversal jutsu might be a slightly feasible option. I had heard rumors from several regions about a technique that had similar properties during my studies. None I had found were completed, though. At least until found a way to reverse the seal. All of which would be easier on his own. She seemed capable enough and didn't appear to be afraid of him, and she didn't appear as annoying as Jiraiya, but Im not used to such personal contact or casual conversation, even if we were the only people left. She was relieved to not be alone something I could understand. She had her own ideas though-

"Oh, wait! I never gave you my name!" She flashed a bright smile and leaned forward once again for too close for comfort, apparently having come to some conclusion about me she bounced as she finished her exclamation, all the tension having slipped form her shoulders., "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! **Your new best friend**!"

Oh, god no.


	3. Chapter 2

Orochimaru had a severe migraine, and she was strolling right alongside him, completely oblivious of her effect on the snake shinobi. He pinched the bridge of his nose for what seemed like the fourth time in the past ten minutes. The blonde haired annoyance continued to go on about anything and everything. The falling leaves, her favorite foods, the color of the sky, she always found a new topic to fill the silence, that Orochimaru desperately wanted. Even though Orochimaru never offered more than a snide remark or a noncommittal grunt, that seemed to be enough to keep the fox like girl satisfied with continuing her rambling.

As she continued, Orochimaru tried to analyze the woman whom he would, unfortunately, be spending quite a bit of time with. Obviously this girl knew him in some way, with negative connotation no doubt. She was also using her endless stream of words in a futile attempt at concealing the fact that she was deep in thought. It was well practiced from the looks of it. She spoke as if not expecting a response, signs of neglect. Her jinchuriki status had something to do with that, most likely. Although, it was a pointless act, when her expressions contrasted so drastically with what she was talking about. The way her eyes glazed over or her mouth twisted to the side in a puzzling manner were dead giveaways. What she was thinking about, the snake man had no idea. He was intelligent, not a Yamanaka.

Eventually Naruto glanced over at Orochimaru mid rant and took in his appearance. The same Orochimaru, that betrayed Konoha and stole her friend, was walking in stride with her. He had the same features but they held no real hostility (other than mild irritation). He sighed occasionally but actually responded with enough detail that it sounded like he was actually paying attention (or at least half paying attention).

'He may have just been listening for some sort of clue,' Naruto surmised,' I can't be tricked by this se-'

'No, I already said that I wouldn't hold his future self against him' Naruto thought, but that didn't stop her from being wary and finding amusement in all this. It was odd, and a bit funny. She shuddered as she fought a laugh. She declared that she was going to be best friends with **Orochimaru**. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad! Maybe he had some good qualities back in the day.

'At the very least he hasn't tried to kill me yet. Always a plus when it comes to my friends.' She mused. He kept looking over at her the way Shikamaru looked at a shoji board, particularly when he was frustrated. He reminded her too much of Sasuke. The real Sasuke. The one that raced her during the tree climbing exercise and trained alongside her. The one who took the chunnin exams with her. _The one who betrayed her._

She flinched and slowly her one sided conversation drifted off, as her thoughts turned back on Sasuke's final moments of consciousness. She somberly smiled, 'Right now, he probably thinks he's at home. His mother is cooking his favorite meal while his brother returns home from yet another successful mission. He leaves his spot, watching the young Uchiha children playing their third game of tag, to put on his jonin vest and go on patrol, a proud member of the Police force. I can just see his smile as he runs out the door eager to prove himself to everyone in the clan.'

"I wonder…if he even spares a small part of his daydream for me." Naruto unknowingly whispered. Orochimaru shifted his gaze to her face. She had such a sad look of resignation in her smile. She knew the most likely answer.

Orochimaru felt an unfamiliar tug in his chest. Was it pity? Pity for this girl he knew, he glanced at the sun, maybe four hours? He frowned and crossed his arms trying not to look her way. He could imagine her inner dialogue, the fight between what she was supposed to think and what she actually thought. He knew it all too well. She would go on believing that he actually cared whether she lived or died to just find out it was all a ploy, a game. She was just a way to pass the time or a stepping stone to be used once than forgotten. She would give all she had, in her own way, until she realized it was pointless. No one cared the way about her the way she cared about them. She would realize that she was always alone.

Orochimaru cursed his mind for a split second. It had always been his greatest weapon and hindrance at the same time. His thoughts often spiraled out of control often turning a minor issue into a world shattering dilemma or a slight similarity into an entire monologue. It made his already horrible social skills, atrocious. It hadn't been so bad when he had Tsunade as a sounding board it helped. She always talked him through some of his worse paranoid thoughts but Dan passed away and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her since.

Jiraiya had never been a great listener and it would be a cold day in hell before he asked him for help. Dammit he couldn't console a kunai let alone a kunoichi who-Why was Naruto staring at him with such an odd expression. He widened his eyes as he realized that he had been muttering that momentary frustration. Damn his nervous habit.

Orochimaru began to fume as he quickened his pace with a light flush on his cheeks. This whole situation had thrown everything he thought possible out of line. His stupid habits. This stupid girl. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed her reply.

"It's alright you know." She awkwardly chuckled, "I'm no good with people either. I-In a different way that is. You wouldn't believe it" she continued as she caught up with him," But I tend to never shut up when Im nervous or feeling lonely."

"No, really?" he reflexively quipped.

"YEAH! Im a real gabberjaw!" she exclaimed completely missing Orochimaru's sarcasm. "I just got used to everyone ignoring me, so I figured if I kept talking something I said had to stick." She lowered her head towards the last part.

"Why do you care if people listen? Especially if they won't respond anyways."

Naruto shrugged and hmed noncommittally, "I guess it was in the hope that one day they would, or better yet, they would find my words of use to them one day and think of me. I spend a lot of time with my teammates, well not so much anymore, but they should remember some of what I say!"

"You would be surprised…" He finished as he stopped to pull out an old piece of parchment from his shirt.

Naruto turned and flashed the smile that worked on everyone," What can I say? I have a big heart!" She motioned waving her hands in a heart motion.

Orochimaru was unimpressed.

"Isn't that a medical condition?" He muttered through the marker he had in his mouth. He began to flatten out the paper slowly getting more and more irritated by his hair which kept falling on the paper.

Naruto looked on her person and found a hair tie handing it to the serpent ninja. "Maybe. I don't know. Sakura would know something like that."

"A medic nin I'm assuming." He took the tie and ran his fingers through his hair trying to fashion it into a ponytail. He eventually got it to cooperate and began tracing out lines on the heavily written on map.

"Yeah. A darn good one at that. At least she was….Hey what's that?" she pointed to a large mountain range, Orochimaru was circling thoroughly wrinkling the map and messing up his handwriting.

"I still can't believe you don't own a fucking map." He grumbled, "That is the mountain range that separates the northern Land of Snow and the rest of the continent. And it's where we are heading." He tilted his head away from the ever inching forward blonde as she peered over his shoulder.

"Why..again?" she nervously inquired as she exhaustedly rested her head on his shoulder.

Orochimaru fought the urge to push her on her ass and possibly cut off a limb. It wasn't good to maim the only help with current world knowledge, however limited it was. Besides her company was _awful,_ annoying not awful, and it was a new feeling having someone so close to him. Most people avoided physical contact with him, and even when people did slap him on the back or get uncomfortable close Orochimaru normally hated it and shied away. She was an odd exception. It was different but not altogether unpleasant, until she began to inch forward more, pressing further into his back.

Orochimaru abruptly stood up leaving Naruto to ack in response, "We are heading there," he rerolled the map making sure to hold it threateningly in her direction, "Because the last know clan I heard of doing any sort of time manipulating jutsu was from that area, and more than likely their records are stored there. Land of Snow's government is too small to waste time documenting every single clan's research so it should be in the clan's compound. AND, no we aren't going to Konoha first because I already know most of what there is to know from their libraries." Naruto sheepishly looked up with a small smile trying to appease the frustrated snake. "Besides there is no doubt Madara is keeping an eye out for any survivors that would work with you. His first bet would be to keep an eye on Konoha, where you would most likely return."

"I guess you're righ-

"I know I'm right." He interrupted as he motioned for Naruto to get on her feet. She dusted herself off and smiled to herself. 'This definitely beats being alone'


	4. Chapter 3

Naruto's arms circled around herself while they took their first real break on their journey. She glanced at the sky, a now somber gray color and released a sigh. She had told Orochimaru that she would find water while he drew some more symbols and arrows on the map. He gave her a once over and a simple acknowledgement and waved her away.

She crouched by the stream and watched her reflection waver in the water.

'Everyone you know is dead.'

She watched the reflection distort into her lost friends, acquaintances and even enemies. Her imagination played back scenes of team assignments, the Wave mission, the Chunnin Ex-.

A sharp pang sliced through her body as her pulse quickened and her blood pressure dropped. She slowly turned her attention to the direction where the snake himself was sitting. She couldn't see him but knowing he was there was a sinful comfort. The man who tore Konoha asunder, who killed the man she called grandfather, who _ruined_ the lives of those he touched, was the only thing providing Naruto with some sort of solace. She should be furious. She should be enraged, but she was only comforted.

Pathetic. Weak. She couldn't help but forgive. It was in her nature. She desired to make other laugh or smile even at her own expense. Besides he had no knowledge of what he would do, and right now he didn't seem all bad. She had watched him as they walked and listened closely to what he had to say. He seemed smart, if not a little paranoid (but any good ninja is), even considerate and insecure, but most of all he seemed, lonely.

'Remind you of someone?'

She bit her lip as she recounted her conversations with the snake man. He was orphaned, like her, wanted acceptance, like her, was feared, like her. She could only imagine what it must have been like for him. He obviously needed some sort of help and it never came.

'Until now.'

Naruto turned her attention to the reflection once more as it once again reformed to her image.

"Great, I'm left with an amnesia-riddled serpent and a psychotic Uchiha and TO TOP IT OFF I am losing my fucking mind," Naruto began as she slammed her container into the water, disrupting the image. Naruto had never handled complex emotions very well. Most of the time she suppressed them, leading to later eruptions of emotion, that was when she wasn't just filled with denial. Naruto was even aware that she did this. She wasn't book smart but she was had a high emotional intelligence.

"I…I cant deal with this right now." She sadly smiled at the reflection, which returned a concerned look, "Please, Everything will go back to normal. The way it was."

'But, can you return to the way things were, now? Feeling the way you feel? Knowing the things you know?'

"It will be painful, watching the past unfold, losing..." she trailed off as she closed her eyes ", but It's never been about me."

She splashed her face with water before the reflection could respond and once the emotions were safely pushed back down she quickly headed back to her companion.

Orochimaru tapped his foot as he muttered under his breath. Getting water did not take this long, especially being that he distinctly remembered a river not a mile back. Perhaps she had run off, he mused, but that didn't line up with her previous actions.

'Maybe she drowned.' He frowned, 'but what kind of self-respecting ninja didn't know how to swim, or at least water walk?'

He massaged his temples and muttered, "One who wears orange, is constantly yelling and takes comfort in the village's pariah." He wrapped up the map and headed out to where he believed she was. He wasn't concerned. How could he be when she was so loud and annoying and naïve and kind…Wait.

"I'm back!" Naruto exclaimed coming face to face with the mildly irritated Sannin. 'Was that a flash of relief?' she shook her head 'couldn't be. I must still be seeing things'

She smiled as she looked up and locked eyes with the now uncomfortable man. She leaned forward fascinated with something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Her large blue eyes widened as though she had found a new exclusive ramen flavor. Orochimaru opened his mouth about to object to the close proximity when…

"You have very bright eyes!" She childishly claimed. She smiled satisfied with her statement and Orochimaru only could only question, "What?"

"They are a bright green, but not like a gross moss green or Rock Lee's jumpsuit green but like…like!" she seemed to struggle to find the words as she snapped her fingers in frustration, "Like a TOAD or or !' She watched as Orochimaru's face darkened with fury until she recovered with "Or a nice green tea! You seem like the type to like green tea. I've never liked it personally but Hinata swears it's relaxing and Tent-

She continued her torrent of one sided conversation as Orochimaru collected his thoughts. She had complemented him, in..her own way. It was the first complement he had received in a while. Like Naruto he didn't handle complex emotions well, especially positive ones.

He eventually settled on rolling his eyes and releasing a "whatever". He turned to continue on the path and watched as her face slightly fell and quieted. This was his chance for silence. He felt a tinge of guilt.

"I do, in fact, like green tea but I rarely drink it. I try to avoid caffeine in most drinks other than coffee because I tend to drink a large amount of coffee." He should be blessed in another life.

She beamed, "I don't normally drink coffee but I do like the taste! Iruka hates the taste but he still drinks it-

Orochimaru let out a sigh as she continued the deluge of information, but didn't notice the small smile on his own face.

/

"achoo" Orochimaru tried to stifle a sneeze as the cheerful fox ran ahead into the clearing. He rolled up his collar and breathed into his hands, trying to warm up his frozen fingers. He watched the woman stare at the sky trying to catch the falling snowflakes, before they hit the ground.

They had just reached the mountain range and the temperature had been dropping steadily as they continued on. Naruto seemed unfazed by the cold. Orochimaru on the other hand hated the cold. People of his clan developed varying degrees of reptilian traits. Unfortunately he had received a complete intolerance for the cold. Something Jiraiya had relentlessly ridiculed him about throughout their gennin years.

Another shiver ran through his body, as he watched the woman attempt to observe the snowflakes caught in her long hair.

"You know…I've been to Snow Country before but…I was always on a mission. Snow was just an inconvenience, a thing to plan for. When you run through these forests you never notice the little things." She commented as she poked one of the flakes gently.

Orochimaru seemed slightly surprised by the blonde's introspective honesty. He maintained an apathetic look as he tried to piece together the enigma in front of him. She showed no fear of him anymore. She didn't look at him the way other people did, even fellow ninja.

"Each snowflake looks different."

Naruto glanced up at the man huddled into himself. He was becoming more conversational. She softly smiled, "No way!"

He rolled his eyes, " Every one has unique patterns and sizes. It has to do with the amount of moisture and dust around the flake as it formed wind patterns, etc. etc." he shuddered as he held back another sneeze.

"That's so cool! So they're like people, each different from the rest." She held her hands in front of her as she slowly approached the freezing man.

"Quite the opposite. You'll find that people are all the same. "He narrowed his eyes as another shiver rocked his body.

Naruto's gaze softened at his cynicism. She could understand. She once thought the same way. "Maybe at a glance" She remembered Iruka, it took one person to change her perspective, "But just like these snowflakes, you just have to slow down and really take a good look. You'd be surprised what you find!"

Orochimaru frowned and looked down at the flakes on his coat, "But I wasn't surprised. I already knew snowflakes were different and their morphology. You were the uneducated one." He spat out indignantly.

Naruto deadpanned, "No.. morphowhat no, I meant you need to get to know someone before you can distinguish the differences."

"Frozen water and the human psyche are hardly comparable." Orochimaru countered with a furrowed brow.

"You are impossible!" he opened his mouth to respond she glared, "Don't!" Orochimaru smirked at her glare, which was more of a pout, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Regardless," he motioned to a place right outside the clearing, "There's a good spot to camp out for the night. Hand me the tent AND don't argue I don't want you stabbing me or yourself trying to set one up."

"Uh..What tent?" Naruto innocently smiled.

"What do you mean what tent?"

Naruto let out a nervous giggle as she shrunk back from the very upset Sannin.

"What do you mean what tent. I was not dressed for a mission when the Madara event occurred for one reason or another. OnE I CanNot remember." He, frustrated, ran his fingers through his hair." However!" Naruto began to back away as Orochimaru followed, "I don't know any ninja gennin, chunnin, or jonin who would travel without essential supplies. ONE of which being a tent."

Naruto averted her eyes and lowly admitted "I…normally someone else brings the tent." His glare intensified as she shrank into herself, "I just cuddle with them for the night. I" She held up a scroll, "I have a sleeping bag." She smiled trying to appease the serpent.

Orochimaru's face contorted into a snarl as he questioned for the umpteenth time the competence of the pleading kunoichi who is currently his companion. But, it is incredibly difficult to appear threatening when you are shivering head to toe.

"Are…are you cold?" Naruto raised her hand to check his temperature but Orochimaru shied away.

"I..I..'m fi..ne" He said between clattering teeth.

"OH NO! Do you have cold blood like actual snakes?! I didn't know. Im never cold because of the Kyuubi and something about its chakra and genetics and IM so sorry. I can fix it! Um uh..how do I fix it?" she pleaded as she looked around.

"There!" Naruto excitedly pointed to a nearby cave and dragged the frozen ninja to the cavern. She ran around setting up everything she had including attempting to start a fire (which Orochimaru eventually had to do despite the fact that she claimed she could, given enough time).

"Welp we should get some shut eye." She yawned as she curled into the dull orange sleeping bag and Orochimaru slid down the wall prepared to sleep sitting up.

"What are you doing?"

Orochimaru opened one eye, "Sleeping?"

"But why there? You can come sleep in the sleeping bag with me. It's way big enough for the two of us!"

Orochimaru just stared dumbfounded with the young girl.

"What are you staring at?...NOT LIKE THAT and you say I'm immature. I've done this all the time with teammates even with Jiraiya" Orochimaru shuddered at that. "Nothing dirty just comfort."

Orochimaru shivered and weighed his options. She was rather attractive. She must have saints for teammates or thinking back to the Jiraiya comment sent a strong enough message that they left her alone. He sighed as he stood up and made his way to the sleeping bag. He had always prided himself on his self-control and he had never been one to chase women (Tsunade even called him asexual).

'This should be easy.' He thought to himself as he sidled in next to the blonde, instantly feeling the warmth and leaning into it. All of a sudden the blonde rolled over curling up against the stunned snake man and wrapping her arms around him.

"N-N-Naruto" He coughed out. All he received was a snore in response as she cuddled even closer. A heat warmed Orochimaru's cheeks

'Okay maybe not.'


	5. Chapter 4

' _Oh, its him….'_

' _Can I even trust him to be on a mission with me?'_

' _He has a darkness about him that makes him dangerous.'_

 _Maybe they're right….._

Orochimaru woke with a start, sweat trailing down his forehead slightly illuminated by the seal, which once again made an appearance. He steadied his breathing attempting to calm his thoughts. The villagers were one thing. They could never understand a shinobi's way of life. In a sense he couldn't blame them. If he was a civilian he would take caution with the people who could summon fire at will.

However… the voices of the ninja echoed in his head. They had selective understanding. They feared him simply for his ability and countenance. They had to ability to look underneath the underneath but chose not to. At first Orochimaru pretended that it didn't bother him. The stares the whispers, he was above it all. He didn't stop and stare at the happy families waiting in anticipation for the first day of academy. He was sizing up the new generation. He didn't throw out all of the poorly written romance novels Jiraya bought for him for his 20th birthday because he was jealous of the fictional characters. The books were simply taking up too much space on his shelf. He especially didn't keep his hair long to maintain at least one thing in common with Jiraiya and Tsunade, to try to keep the nagging fear that they were going to leave the village behind, Leave him behind, at bay. He had grown used to his length and would be inconvenienced to change it at this point.

Soon though his denial turned to desperation and the line between fiction and reality became blurred by raw emotion. He began to see enemies where allies once were and couldn't find enough proof to convince his paranoid side otherwise. He had always thought those dark thoughts were wrong; but, maybe, this time they had a point. That's why he stayed away. That's why he left...

"Ngh" Orochimaru's head throbbed as he tried to focus on that last thought. He pulled his arm free raising it to his head..wait free? He opened his eyes and remembered where he was.

Concerned brilliant blue eyes stared intently at the face of the man in front of them. Naruto's eyes followed Orochimaru's form and stopped at his hand. His thrashing had woken her earlier and she listened in on his troubled sleep talk. She noticed his weary eyes and struggled to not empathize with the man who had helped ruin the latter part of her life. In the end something tugged on her conscience and all of a sudden she saw a young Orochimaru all alone trying to make sense of all the hate and cruelty of the world and coming to the best conclusion he could, just like she had. The only difference was they had come to different conclusions. Naruto had suppressed her darkness. Orochimaru had embraced it.

She gently reached up, like one would to a child, and rested her hand on his. Orochimaru's eyes opened in shock and slight fear as she slowly pried his fingers from his hair and away from his head. He froze as the young woman smiled warmly and calmly held his hand.

"You know….I have nightmares like that t-."

"Don't presume to know my nightmares." Orochimaru defensively cut her off while trying to tug his hand out of her grasp. He inwardly flinched at his reaction but stuck by his statement glaring the girl down.

Naruto's smile darkened as her grasp tightened to an almost painful extent, "Accept the comfort. It's not like you're going anywhere anyways." She pulled up his hand to solidify her threat.

"This is not how you comfort someon-"

"So you ADMIT that I'm comforting!" Naruto happily exclaimed wiggling in the sleeping bag.

"Why do you always miss the point? And No that's not-" Orochimaru bit out trying to gain some sort of footing in the conversation .

"Incorrect!" Naruto held up one finger with her other hand, "I just look underneath the underneath." She confidently stated tapping her finger to his nose.

Orochimaru reeled back from the touch and exasperatedly responded, "That's absurd. You're absurd."

"But I'm also comforting." Orochimaru opened his mouth to retort but didn't get the chance as Naruto continued, "It's okay you know? To be scared. To be angry even." Naruto's brows furrowed as she thought back to her own life, "Most people can be cruel and frustrating and to damn lazy to take the time to reflect on their own actions." Orochimaru paused at her intensity simmering down and simply taking in her comments.

"They fear what they don't understand They think someone who's powerful is automatically dangerous or evil. A ninja who does their job is cruel. Someone who's extremely smart must be plotting against them or about to lose to their inner demons. But it's good that you're angry beacuse-" Naruto's intense expression faded into another heartwarming smile and Orochimaru listened fingers unconsciously closing around hers.

"It means you still think they're wrong." Orochimaru felt his defenses crack and moisture build up in his eyes. No. He was **not** going to cry over this infuriating woman's kind surprisingly, insightful words. Nope.

Naruto watched as Orochimaru struggled to keep his face blank. Her eyes widened as she noticed the sheen to his eyes. "Are…you crying?"

"No."

She lifted their conjoined hand to push some hair from his face to get a better view and a blush flared to life on the snake man's face as he glanced at the laced fingers. He instantly turned away and mumbled a low 'whatever' not seeing Naruto's concerned expression. She was about to retort when she noticed their still intertwined hands and felt no pull to break the hold. Naruto smiled triumphantly and settled back to sleep.

 **Author note**

 **Short update! I know! Im sorry! Classes have picked back up and I am also working now BUT I have not forgotten about all you wonderful lovelies! Another update will be soon (I hope) but I figured I wouldn't leave ya'll waiting any longer. Thank you so much for the kind reviews and I hope you enjoyed**


	6. Chapter 5

"Naruto"

"Mhm?"

"Naruto."

"No…so tired…"

"Naruto, wake up or I will lift you up by your pigtails and use your body to put out the campfire," Orochimaru growled kicking the mound in the sleeping bag. Sure, his irritation may be unfounded but he was still trying to put together what happened last night and how to feel about it and complex emotions were never his strong suit. So, he defaulted to irritated, more at himself than her but that didn't mean he couldn't take his anger out on her.

"Ow.." a head popped out of the orange lump and hazy eyes glared at the source of its pain, "Was shaking my shoulder or I don't know ANYTHING ELSE really too hard to do?" Naruto uttered as she stood up nursing her now bruised back. She raised her arms over her head stretching her back, popping occasionally as she shifted.

Orochimaru turned away from the half-asleep blonde with a slight smirk, "No but that wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining."

She approached the snake man (trying and failing to fold the sleeping bag while she walked) and leaned around to stare at his face,"Were…were you teasing me?" Orochimaru's face flushed slightly at the close proximity and Naruto's face lighted up with a smile," YOU WERE! The Great Orochimaru has just displayed normal human emotion!" She exclaimed with just a bit too much enthusiasm.

He rolled his eyes and snarked "Yes, you must now tell the masses of your discovery…well if there were any 'masses' to speak of anymore."

Naruto gaped dropping the sleeping bag she was folding, "You….how…Stop smiling! Its not funny!" Orochimaru dodged left and right avoided the flailing hands of the frustrated woman in front of him. Eventually he just grabbed one of the errant punches pulling her off balance and leaving her sprawling on the cave floor.

"Whatever get ready," he remarked as he grabbed the crumpled sleeping bad, folding it with ease and sealing it away in one of his many storage scrolls.

"Why are you so violent today?" Naruto pouted getting back on her feet. "You're not tired are you? I thought you slept well last night…well at least afte-"

"I'm fine just constantly reminded of not only how slow my current partner is but the fact that my partner seems to have the intelligence of a sentient rock." Orochimaru cut her off walking out of the cave with an embarrassed sneer.

"IM NOT SLOW" Naruto yelled as she slipped on her sandals," AND WHAT DOES SENTIENT MEAN?" she questioned as she ran forward trying to catch up to her sarcastic friend.

/

"So then my other best friend-" Naruto smiled as she recounted her adventures. Retelling all these stories filled her with an odd sensation, not quite nostalgia but clarity. Her smile faded along with her sentence. The thing about going back through the past is the fact that you now have a different perspective. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. She saw enemies where there were once none and pondered on her own actions as well. She had never had the time to process all her emotions and pull apart her experiences before now. She knew that once she started, she wouldn't stop and, to be completely honest, she wasn't sure how much she would like the person she would find under all the repression .Somewhere deep in Naruto's mind she had securely placed all her pent up emotions in a box labeled 'To be dealt with at a later time'. Well now she had all the time in the world and a (somewhat) willing sounding board.

Orochimaru was actively participating in the conversation or ,well, more active than he had previously been with his occasional snark remark or clarifying question.( It wasn't much, but Naruto was gonna take what she could get. ) Much of Orochimaru's attention had been divided between deciphering what the girl was saying and what she was not. One of the most overlooked qualities that made a good ninja, great was the understanding of the complexities of silence. Naruto spoke volumes when she flinched at a name or gnawed on her bottom lip during a certain telling of battle. She said even more when the conversation came to a halt and her eyes became overcast and she fully allowed her emotions to take hold. He could tell she was holding back during parts of her tale but for some reason he didn't push. He just stood by and occasionally threw in his opinion.

"Who also tried to kill you?" Orochimaru inquired growing increasingly concerned about the company the naïve blonde was keeping. While he admired her ability to turn enemies into allies, he couldn't help but worry that the girl was being too forgiving.

"Yep!"

"Ah."

"Is it _that_ weird?" Naruto titled her head, "I mean it's the way I've made most of my long term friends. And from where I'm standing I have a higher friend count than you!" She pointed at the long haired man and waggled her eye brows in a teasing manner.

"I wasn't aware friends had anything to do with being a good shinobi" Orochimaru muttered slightly put out as he crossed his arms.

"Oh but it has Everything to do with being a good ninja!" Naruto ran ahead being careful to not trip on any of the rocks hidden by the fresh snow.

"Says the girl without a tent."

"OH HOW LONG ARE YOU GONNA HOLD THAT OVER ME?!" She flailed her arms as she pouted and a dark blush came across her face.

Orochimaru had to hold back a chuckle as he cockily retorted, "I don't know, how long is it going to be till you get one?" As he finished he unsuccessfully suppressed a shiver but he wasn't sure if it was the cold or the fact that he thought she looked…he wasn't sure how to describe it just that he felt warm looking at her pout.

Naruto opened her mouth to respond when she saw the shiver run through his body. Her face fell and her eyes filled with concern, " Oh man, I completely forgot." She came closer to the now retreating snake man, "You must still be freezing. I can't believe I forgot!" She thunked her head then she returned her attention to the cold ninja, " Why didn't you remind me? I thought we were getting close! I mean after last nigh-

"I don't know what you're talking about." Orochimaru hastily blurted out as his face became bright red. He inwardly scolded himself on his nervous rambling. For god's sake he was acting like a 13 year old boy with a cru-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?" Orochimaru lost his train of thought as the blonde blunder bellowed in front of his face. "Is it the seal? Oh, don't tell me it's the seal. Are you okay? Do you have a headache? A fever? Oh no" Naruto rambled as tears welled up in her eyes as she frantically fussed over Orochimaru. Part of Orochimaru berated himself on his lie and he wanted to hang his head in shame. The other part, a part he wasn't fully aware he had until meeting Naruto, enjoyed the attention and allowed her to carry on for a bit longer than needed.

"Maybe it's stress induced?" Naruto questioned a she pushed the sannin's hair out of his face, trying to examine exactly where the seal would have been had it been active. "Am I that stressful?"

Yes.

"No" Orochimaru supplied as he collected his thoughts. Her presence was becoming….likable and what happened last night was something he had never felt before. Something unknown, and normally the unknown intrigued Orochimaru. It kept him studying, discovering, _going_. But Naruto wasn't an experiment or a jutsu he could study and figure out, and ,worst of all, unlike his projects he was starting to think he wouldn't be able to walk away from her when all was said and done. It terrified Orochimaru. He stepped back from the snow dusted girl and tried to regain his composure. This entire situation had thrown him off guard. He had never felt so out of control and it was wearing on his normally stoic demeanor.

Naruto smiled in relief completely missing the array of conflicting emotions going through Orochimaru's head, "Really? I hate causing problems, so I'm glad." She finally allowed Orochimaru's uncomfortable retreat and stepped back far enough to be out of his personal space.

"But I mean if you're really stressed and when I think about it you sure have a lot of reasons to be: losing your memories, new best friend, everyone you know go-

"Get to the point." Orochimaru cut her off glaring down at her.

"Well what do you normally do to relax?" Naruto expectantly tilted her head fully prepared to do whatever the older man wanted (well within reason). She wouldn't admit it but she couldn't help but feel responsible for her companions suffering and part of her, a small voice growing quieter everyday, hated herself for it. This was an enemy, but weren't all her friends once enemies? What makes Orochimaru different? Why was the voice so insistent and more importantly why was she so determined to ignore it?

"I.." Orochimaru pondered the young girl's question with a bit too much difficulty. He surely did things in his free time. He read on techniques, well that's still work related. He couldn't even remember the last time he went into the main district of the village. Was he a chuunin then?

Naruto took advantage and a little pity in the perplexed man and spread her arms, "We could think of this as a forced extended vacation!"

Orochimaru deadpanned at her exclamation once again his mind went completely blank at Naruto's words.

"We aren't in any danger!" Orochimaru's eye narrowed at her statement as he flexed out his chakra to sense for nearby enemies to satiate his paranoia, "Everyone is trapped by Madara! There's no prying eyes or judgment now!"

"I mean you're not wrong but you're cheerful ton-"

Naruto gasped ignoring the sannin's response. She once again approached Orochimaru leaning forward in unadulterated glee, "We could go into town and do whatever we want, take whatever we want. Who's gonna stop us?!"

Orochimaru blinked taking in the girl's morally ambiguous proposal. She wasn't wrong.

"I know I'm not wrong!"

Damnit he was doing it again.

"Besides if we go back in time nothing we did will count cause it didn't exist or did it? Well we took it so but time travel is" Naruto frowned looking down at her hands as she counted her excuses and tried to make a coherent thought.

"It depends on which time travel theory you're talking about and being that I highly doubt you have studied any theoretical physics…Don't ask I don't have time to explain it to you."

Naruto pouted, "But we have all the time in the world, literally."

"Still not enough." He snarked returning to his previous explanation," I understand what you were trying to get at…at least..I think. Our actions aren't limited by regular laws or societal norms due to the lack of enforcement in our current situation. We have unlimited access to resources-"  
"You mean we can take stuff without getting in trouble!"

"Quite." He sighed giving up the notion that he was going to get any sort of philosophical debate from his companion any time soon.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Naruto grabbed Orochimaru's hand and dragged him along, "LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!" Once the initial surprise faded, Orochimaru's face held a soft smile as the small blonde's excitement was contagious. Physical contact wasn't so bad…at least not with her.

"We could get you new clothes! Ooooh something ORANGE!"

And like that his smile was gone.


	7. Chapter 6

Silence laid as thickly upon the land as the snow. They had traveled beyond the dense forests of the Land of Fire, and were met with eerie, mountainous tundra. The snow had obscured most natural formations; however, Orochimaru had noticed a few too deep crevices that had given away the scars of war in the quiet land. A few stray kunai and other weapons lie buried in the fence posts of the various farms they had started encountering as they neared a small village marked on their map.

Orochimaru recognized the run-down shacks, masquerading as housing near the riddled farmlands. Ideally, they were used as temporary housing for migrant farmers during the more hospitable, temperate summers that constituted as farming season for the Land of Snow. Unfortunately, reality often differs from ideals. Many of the shacks showed signs of recent inhabitants, despite their decapitated condition. The Land of Snow had never truly recovered from the Third Shinobi War and it showed in their high poverty rates and even higher fatality rate. The same merchants who had profited from the war, hoarded their wealth and helped to further solidify the already present class system. Orochimaru's eyes softened as they passed a small shack with a roof bowing from the weight of the snow. Small slightly snow-dusted feet lie just in sight under the shadow of the fabric covered doorway. A victim that had fallen before Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi. Orochimaru subtly quickened his pace to try and block Naruto's view of the doorway, even though he had a feeling from a few of Naruto's tales that she was all to accustomed to how unforgiving the world really was.

Naruto had paid no mind to it, intently focused on her story of how she and Ino had tricked Sakura into thinking she had a mission a whole day before it actually started. She had noticed the war-torn setting but didn't feel the need to discuss the obvious. The indications of war were deeply ingrained into the landscape. She couldn't blame this aged destruction on Madara. The world she was fighting to bring back wasn't perfect, but _she already knew that didn't she?_ Naruto snapped to attention recognizing her spiraling thoughts. 'Not now,' she inhaled and finished her story quietly wondering how much Orochimaru was really paying attention to, ignoring how much she was hoping he was.

As they winded down the trail, Naruto had finally had enough. "So now it's your turn."

Orochimaru looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"To…ya know express yourself. Share your feelings. Tell a tale. T-A-L-K." Naruto cheerfully chimed as she wildly motioned with her entire body, "While I love to talk, I think my voice needs a break. That or Madara might just jump out of a bush and kill me outta sheer annoyance. He seems like the type," now a little wary Naruto surveyed the landscape looking for any crevice for a petty Uchiha to hide, or a particularly angry looking bush.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes at the comment even letting a small smile come out. Knowing there was no real arguing with those bright affirmed eyes Orochimaru started, "Well what do you want to know?"

"Hmmm" Naruto tapped her chin in thought," I don't know, what do you like to do. OUTSIDE of ninja stuff."

"Outside of ninja _stuff,"_ Orochimaru fought the frightening idea that this woman was not only a kunoichi but a fairly powerful one at that. Oddly enough, Orochimaru didn't fully balk at the idea of sharing something about himself. He never considered himself completely anti-social, as Jiraiya had once called him. He was just selective with his choice of person. Apparently, Naruto was beginning to fall into that category. His head slightly throbbed at that and he let out a small groan.

"Its alright! I knew someone who was just like you, Er well in that they didn't do much outside ninja stuff. Not exactly like you-"

"I am quite unique." Orochimaru supplied with just a tinge of bitterness.

"Yeah! You are!" Naruto smiled and extensively motioned while she continued on, "So yeah, this guy Kakashi-" Naruto seemingly lost in her own story, completely forgetting her initial question started to talk about another one of her many friends with a familiar name. The more he learned about the surprisingly observant woman, the more he wondered if she had actually forgotten or just recognized his discomfort and changed the topic. The second option made him feel something he couldn't quite attach a definite name, but it made him prepare himself for when the question would inevitably come up again. Her genuine interest was growing on him. For some reason he was content with Naruto knowing more about him. Maybe he was finally recognizing her as an ally. Orochimaru internally shrugged, an emotion to evaluate at a later time.

The actual village of Kanosei was a small merchant town on the border of the Land of Snow that was a popular stop for those entering or leaving the country. It was a much more positive sight than the dilapidated outskirts, at least initially. Snow laid undisturbed on every inch of quaint, quiet town. Stalls were set out on either side of the unpaved road with remnants of tassels, candies and lanterns in a wide variety of colors. Storefronts had soft fabric and red and orange ribbon hanging from the doorways and windchimes clinked softly in the large outdoor displays.

Naruto's eyes softened as they passed a booth filled with small toys lightly dusted by unsettled snow. She gently passed her fingers along the rail of booth entranced by the cascades of falling snow and how cool the metal was to the touch. She couldn't put a finger on what she was feeling. The first thing she thought was how sad it was that the festival was interrupted by a war miles away. Anger flashed briefly in her eyes before she settled back into her mellow state. Being angry was exhausting and it had been about two weeks since the world ended. Somehow the sting was wearing off. Naruto frowned. She couldn't help it. It was how she had dealt with her negative emotions her whole life. Suppressing it until it became something unmanageable. Now she was afraid of what she might find if she looked too closely at herself _or if someone else did_.

Orochimaru eyed the suddenly pensive woman as they slowed their walk through the festival stalls. He watched her trace designs in the snow as he tried to decipher what had caused her mood shift. Other than the lifeless town. Oh. Orochimaru had never been particularly fond of large crowds and had often walked the streets of Konoha in the dead of night, relishing the silence and peace of the dark hours. He forgot what normal people found unsettling, mostly because he was usually in that category. He forgot she was (somewhat) normal. He shifted guiltily. He fiddled with the hair band now on his wrist. Naruto had an almost supernatural way of reading others and had been accommodating him at every turn. He hadn't considered her in any of his decisions. He was on a mission. He couldn't busy himself with caring about how his team felt about him or idle on what he considered to be 'civilian things' like shopping, hot springs etc. He hadn't even been to a festival since his genin days. Or had he? His head throbbed.

"Don't worry. Soon enough things will be back to normal," Orochimaru almost bitterly let out looking away from his companion, "You'll be back to festivals like this," He lifted up a hair clip from one of the stands they were passing, "And everything will be as it's supposed to be." He went to pull off her hairband from his wrist. And she would be gone and he would be alone. It was better that way. No odd hand holding at night, no incessant chatter, no thoughtful gestures, no more of these complicated emotions. God he was getting soft.

Naruto smiled sadly, "Actually, I've never been to one."

Orochimaru stopped pulling on the band to look at the blonde.

"When I was young, I wasn't allowed. Besides large crowds aren't really my thing," she shrugged, "I like people and all but I prefer intimate setting where you can talk and not be affected by what people outside that little bubble thinks," images of the angry villagers entered her mind, "And I may like people but people tend not to like me." Dark eyes flashed in her memory and she touched her scar on her chest where electricity had once singed her skin. "And, I don't know if even time travel can fix something that badly broken." She didn't know if she was talking about the village, Sasuke, Kakashi, Madara or herself.

Orochimaru clicked his tongue, "I'm sure plenty of people like you. You have an affable demeanor and," he eyed her up and down, "a _pleasant_ look about you, and you're just…likable" he pulled off the hair tie holding it out to her. He needed to shut down this feeling about her. Someone had obviously done some serious damage to her; and, a person like him could only do more.

Naruto blinked at him and then let out a small giggle, "Thanks! I'm starting to learn your language and catch when you're paying a complement. Don't you start with me! Its totally a complemen- PUT that eyebrow down!" Naruto motioned vividly while Orochimaru simply maintained his sly expression with a hint of amusement as he shook the tie in front of her.

"Oh, I meant for you to keep that."

Orochimaru further quirked his eyebrow.

"A good friend of mine, was really into totems and luck charms. She fully believed in them and demanded that everyone take one," Naruto laughed as the image of a disgruntled preteen Ino came into her mind, "She was researching how to make a certain boy fall in love with her and it just kinda stuck. Ah, don't look like that. She was young. Anyways, she made one for all of us genin after the chunin exams," Naruto used all of her willpower to not let her eyes flicker over to the man next to her, "Each meant something slightly different and I don't remember them all but she was going around passing them out and I was on the outskirts" _always on the outskirts_ "of the little circle and she went out of her way to approach me. I thought 'Oh no here she comes to make fun of the fact she didn't make me one. Because who would make me one.' And in her hand was this hair tie see?" Naruto motioned to a small metal plate with a jewel hanging next to it on the tie, so small you could easily miss it, "She gave it to me and said 'This one is for intelligence! Ha! No I'm kidding. We've really gotten to know each other huh? The metal plate is for defense to protect you when you're so busy protecting and thinking about everyone else, like that lazy bum and Sakura. The gem is for beauty 'cause underneath all that attention-seeking attitude there's a pretty girl who I would love to make over and go shopping with. And the band is to remind you that you did me a solid saving Shika and Sakura's life. They're idiots but they're my idiots ya know? What I mean to say is. You've earned yourself a friend for life." Naruto smiled earnestly as she touched the little trinkets watching the light shimmer off of it. "I never did go shopping with her and I didn't hang out with her as much as I would have liked. Life ya know? I don't even know if she remembers that exchange or even if I'm in her dream world but it meant so much to me. I'd never had anyone aside from Iruka do that. I was so close to hating the world again, it was just too mean, too cruel, too hard…"

Orochimaru looked at the little band. It was so cheap, probably just trinkets the girl had had around her house but, "So it must mean a lot to you…" he began to motion the band to her but Naruto placed her hand up in rejection then enclosed it over his.

"It means, that I want you to have it." Naruto smiled at Orochimaru's perplexed face. It was honestly kinda cute. He was always being so snide and stoic that seeing him stunned was refreshing. "It was a reminder to me that someone cared whether I lived or died, whether I was happy or not. I kept it with me every day since then. But I have so many people I care about and care about me, even if when all this is said and done they may be different. And," Naruto paused and closed her eyes before letting go holding her hands behind her back, "I want you to have it. Because you now have a friend for life. And for all that smarts ya got I think you'll need something to remind you of this from time to time."

Naruto softly stepped away understanding the full gravity of her words. This was Orochimaru. The man who murdered the Third. The man who kidnapped Sasuke er.. well Sasuke went on his own free will and looking back Sasuke was going to leave with or without the snake Sannin. The man who couldn't handle the cold. Who needed her hand to fall asleep after a nightmare. Who understood her loneliness so well? Either way this man was now someone precious to her, and the shock and blush, which me immediately tried to hide as he put the hair tie back on his wrist further cemented her decision. Repercussions be damned.

 **Author Notes: Hiya! I know its been awhile. I'm so sorry and I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and has been eagerly waiting for me to update! I actually lost this chapter when my computer died and it took me awhile to get into the mood so to speak. I hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 7

Naruto had never had much interest in shopping. She had always thought of it as something _other_ girls did. She trained and wore worn out clothes with mismatched colors. Other girls wore pretty dresses. Other girls wore nice things. Other girls had _more_ things. A couple of times she had asked Sakura about her perfume or makeup but, any further discussion went way over her head. Her friends didn't understand why Naruto wasn't let in or allowed to buy new clothes. Looking back, she wondered how hard they tried.

Now, however, Naruto was questioning her dislike of shopping. She slowly pushed aside the soft strips of fabric in the doorway of the shop at the end of the main street. The main sign had been covered by a thick layer of ice making the name illegible. The unnamed store was quite narrow with a variety of quality clothes lining the walls up to the ceiling. The higher the garment on the wall the higher the quality it seemed. A small 'no stealing' sign on the counter answered their odd interior design choices. It's hard to steal what you can't reach. A narrow stairway led up to where Naruto presumed the owners lived.

Naruto slightly balked in the doorway out of habit. 'Oh right. No storeowners,' Naruto slowly wandered in and took in her surroundings. She had thought that she didn't like fancy clothes. The awestruck feeling she was getting was quickly proving her wrong. The clothes were in colors as vibrant as the flowers outside Team Seven's training grounds. She felt the fabric of a small tunic eyelevel with her until a gown on the upper row caught her eye. Climbing onto the counter she spryly made her way up the wall. The difference in quality was easily seen. Naruto slowly rubbed the material of the closest robe to her and marveled at how soft it was. She noticed the fancy embroidery decorating the sleeves of these robes and the incredible designs in the fabrics.

Orochimaru chuckled at the monkey-like girl crawling her way across the top row of clothes. This was obviously her first time in a store of this caliber. Keeping his eyes on the small spectacle before him, he made his way into the small shop.

"You know," Orochimaru mentioned nonchalantly while idly touching a robe beside him, "You can have more than one."

Naruto turning completely perpendicular to the wall stretched her neck to look at him with a small earnest smile, "Really?"

"I mean.." Orochimaru felt warmth on his face despite the cold, "I don't see why not," he finished motioning to the completely vacant store.

Naruto's smile fell a bit as she replied, "But…isn't stealing bad?"

Orochimaru fought the urge to roll his eyes or explain the complicated, intricacy and flexibility of morality when it comes to a ninja. A. because it would be lost on the simple girl and B. it obviously wasn't what she needed to here. 'Oh no.' Orochimaru shuddered. He was becoming conscientious. He had always picked up of the subtle nuances of people. He just had never cared before.

"I'm sure it's fine."

Naruto's eyes grew wide, "Promise?"

He waved his hand dismissively, "Promise."

Naruto beamed at him as she went back to her frantic crawling now grabbing robes as she passed them.

With her attention elsewhere, Orochimaru let out an eye roll and turned to the front of the store. A raised counter rested along the storefront window. Fine jewelry and baubles laid on a navy felt runner on display. One in particular caught Orochimaru's eye. A claw like bronze hair pin glinted in the light. Orange, red and blue gems lined the claws that clasped over a pin with a swirled design. Orochimaru absently reached for the hair tie now back to holding his hair. Then looked to the young woman letting out a puff of air to push aside a tuft of hair. He reached for the clip and wondered about the sensation he got when he looked at her. ' _Because you now have a friend for life.'_

The snake man was pulled from his train of thought by a dull thud behind him. Naruto apparently had finished her escapade and was sorting through the pile of clothing now on the floor.

"Come on. I just had it!" Naruto dove deeper into the pile, "Ah, here it is!" She pulled out a silk, navy yukata with grey, swirl embroidery along the edges. The grey thread led to a back piece depicting a green snake with the same grey embroidery outlining it.

"So, I remembered what you said about orange and orange is kinda my thing anyways…" Naruto stretched the robe in front of her trying to envision it on the snake man. "It looks about the right size." She pressed the fabric flush the male ninja before continuing, "I used to really dislike snakes. I thought they were cruel and selfish." Orochimaru flinched at that, " But, the more I learned about them the more I realized that they were more like me than I would have ever thought. They just do things their own way." Naruto pulled back to make eye contact." I'm really starting to like them." She paused, "PLUS this brings out your eyes!"

Orochimaru broke his stupor at that, once again wondering how Naruto could go from soft and pensive to loud and brash so quickly, "What do you mean by that?"

Naruto began to sweat a little, "Well, I-it's something Ino or Temari would say! It's a complement. Like the colors go together! Com-Complementary." Naruto nodded her head in reassurance.

"That's not what I- Wait. Blue and green aren't complementary colors."

Naruto tilted her head, "They're not?"

"No, Complementary means that the two colors are on opposite sides of the color wheel. Like blue and orange." Orochimaru quickly switched into lecture mode trying his best to put it into terms she could understand.

"So, we're complementary!" Naruto twirled around bringing her orange sleeve to the navy robe, "Opposite but working together," Orochimaru opened to interject a snide comment but was cut off by Naruto, "How do you know about this kinda stuff anyways?"

Orochimaru frowned and wracked his brain. When did he learn that? Recalling things was getting more and more difficult as if there was a wall asking to be torn down. Naruto put down the yukata and looked up at him in concern and something he couldn't describe. At the last second, he remembered.

"Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya?"

"Yeah," Orochimaru's shoulders slumped as the tension slipped away, "When he was starting out as an," Orochimaru brought up one hand to form air quotes," 'intelligence gatherer' he would try to teach me all about fashion and I quote, 'Things that make a guy sound far more appealing to women'."

Naruto giggled at that. She could just imagine a disgruntled Orochimaru being forced to interact with her former sensei. Then an even funnier scenario popped into her head

"Did you ever try it?" Naruto asked trying to contain her laughter.

Orochimaru tilted his head in confusion.

"You know, use those skills to pick up women?" Naruto was struggling to contain her laughter as the image of an Orochimaru trying to hit on women in the village came into her mind.

Orochimaru stared at her incredulously and put his hands on his hips, "No." Although technically he had just used it on her unconsciously.

"Really? I would have loved to see that." Naruto let out some of her laughter as she stared at the red face of Orochimaru who was glaring daggers at her.

"Well that makes exactly one of us," he huffed, "Gather your things and let's get moving," he continued turning away to the door grabbing a thicker winter jacket and pants on the way out.

"W-Wait for me!" Naruto scrambled trying to gather all the garments to place them in a storage seal. As she was about to put them away she noticed the navy yukata was missing and noticed it's sleeve sticking out from under the jacket that was crossed in Orochimaru's arms as he waited outside. A warm feeling spread across Naruto's frame and she smiled as she grabbed the storage seal and ran outside.

"Do you think," Naruto interjected as they walked along a more residential street in the town, "Do you think we could stay in a house tonight?"

Orochimaru, now wearing more winter appropriate clothing looked at the girl beside him, "What, tired of sleeping outdoors?"

"No, Well yes, but that's not what I was talking about," Naruto puffed out her cheeks a bit and muttered under her breath.

"Hm?"

"I said, I've just never stayed at an actual house before." Naruto mumbled blushing and pouting as they continued walking.

Orochimaru looked forward, "We are on a mission Naruto no matter how unconventional."

Naruto's face fell. Orochimaru continued with his usual stoic face, "But, I suppose one night shouldn't hurt. We do have all the time in the world, technically."

Naruto's face brightened while Orochimaru looked disinterested, but Naruto knew better. This was the most Naruto had smiled in a long time. Always worrying about the Akatsuki, the Kyuubi, Sasuke, the villagers, Naruto had taken to thinking of herself last. Part of her had also always worried about what her friends would think if they found out about her status. 'I guess I'll never find out.' This was the first time she could walk around freely without fear of hateful stares and biases. It was sad to say that the world without people felt a lot kinder than the world with people. Naruto took in the serene surrounding feeling slightly guilty at how peaceful she felt.

"It's nice without people around," Orochimaru remarked stilling looking ahead, "People hate what they don't understand, what looks different, what reminds them of themselves. They are unnecessarily cruel and use violence as their favorite form of diplomacy, and when that fails" Orochimaru thought back to the looks he would get from the villagers, the space they would give him when he was alone which was all the time as of late. How no one appreciated all he did. He did all those supposed terrible things for them. They would love it if he would just die and forget him entirely. _I don't want to die. I don't want to be forgotten._ "They forget." He thought about Jiraiya leaving , Tsunade disappearing Sarutobi disapproving. He had done everything for them. _It wasn't fair._ His head ached.

"They just don't understand." Naruto supplied, "It's not their fault."

"Then's whose Fault is it? Are we supposed to be the benevolent martyr while they judge from afar? I'd much rather be my own judge and jury and do as I see fit. I'm the only limit I need. I will achieve far greater without them." Orochimaru continued still keeping an impassive face. Naruto watched as the man began to look more like he did before the seal. Confident. Powerful. Dangerous. _Lonely._ Just like she had been. Only he had an extra difficulty, his mind. Naruto hadn't understood her situation until later in life. Orohcimaru must have known for the get go. She imagined a small Orochimaru standing outside the playground, watching but never participating.

"People always say when you love someone things are easier. I don't think that's true at all,"Naruto stepped closer to her companion, "Kakashi said I fall in love as often as I stumble walking. I do love a lot. Maybe that's why I also hurt so much. It would be so much easier to not love at all. To say 'Fuck it, why love someone who doesn't love me back?' and put your heart in a box throwing away the key while saying 'Never again'. I've thought about it all the time, but I know who I would become once I did that and… she scares me," Naruto pulled her arms around herself, "But, that doesn't stop the thoughts. That doesn't stop the other me. And, maybe one day I'll lose to her. It will just hurt too badly. I'll have lost too much. Then I can only hope the ones I loved would bring me back, not knowing if they actually would put in the effort. But I could still say I tried and that's more than a lot of people can say. So I continue to fight because the alternative is unacceptable."

"All that effort for the sake of people who hate you." Orochimaru inclined his head to look at her once again.

"Because even thought they hate me. I love them" She said touching her finger to his nose which was freezing to the touch, "Woah you're super cold! Why didn't you tell me?! Let's hurry up." Naruto grabbed Orochimaru's arm pulling him forward.

Orochimaru allowed her to lead and at her touch he felt the darkness in his mind retreat, if only a little.


	9. Chapter 8

"Oh no, I can _totally_ do this!" Naruto furrowed her brow as she attempted to balance herself on a small, round piece of driftwood.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes, thinking back to a couple days ago as those same words were exclaimed regarding cooking in the small home they had holed up in. He hadn't realized how bad a grease fire could get, when only attempting to cook rice. He had underestimated her. They slept in separate houses after that.

"Come on!" Orochimaru was pulled from his thoughts as Naruto, now seated on the "sled", held her arms out to him.

No.

Orochimaru had never felt his body so repulsed with an idea. A shudder ran through his body as the images of all the possible injuries he could get riding down that damned hill with her. For all he knew, the sled would catch fire. Like that sink. He shivered.

"Aww don't be like that," Naruto pouted, "There's no one around! 'Sides when's the next time you'll be able to let lose like this," she rocked back and forth on the unsteady plank.

"I'm sure I'll enjoy myself right here," Orochimaru crossed his arms and solidified his stance, further cementing his unwillingness to go.

Naruto opened her mouth to protest, when a mischevious glint came to her eyes, "All right then," she crooned as she turned to straighten herself on the board and reached down to push herself forward.

Orochimaru watched her with slight confusion. It couldn't be that easy. He relaxed his posture a bit and thought that maybe she was simply learning what he would and wouldn't do. No. He shifted his weight and focused on the girl, now more fervently trying to propel herself down the slope. He rolled his eyes and walked forward to give the girl some help, with a kick, when something lunged from the shadows at him. He turned to face the perpetrator and attempted to unsheathe his sword, which got caught in the many layers of clothing he had on. As he held his free hand in a fire symbol, he heard a shriek from the girl behind him.

"Naruto!" Orochimaru felt slight panic go through his system. He jumped back towards the girl attempting to give her cover when that same girl grabbed him by the torso forcing him to inelegantly fall onto the sled, most definitely giving him some splinters. The shadow clone smiled up at him and pushed off with her feet, dispelling on contact.

Orochimaru had never considered himself a religious man, but there's something about careening down a steep, rocky hill at 30mph that makes one reconsider these things.

Naruto smiled and squealed in absolute enjoyment, while her unwilling passenger clenched his bloodless fingers curled around her clothing. Branches whizzed by their heads as they came upon a denser portion of the slope. "See?! This is fun!" Naruto yelled turning her head towards him.

Orochimaru finally willed himself to look forward over the young girl's shoulder making brief eye contact. Time seemed to slow as he watched the light dance in her sky-blue eyes. A light flush covered her cheekbones and the tip of her nose settling right under her light freckles. A true smile came across her face framed by her golden hair dusted with a few specks of snow. For the first time in a long time, Orochimaru felt something warm bloom in his chest. A light blush spread onto his cheeks.

"You…really are…beautiful," Orochimaru barely whispered under his breath.

"Hah?" Naruto brushed some hair out of her face, 'What was that?"

Orochimaru sputtered a bit but, then realized what was approaching them.

"I said, DUCK!" Orochimaru stood to his full height on the sled drawing his sword as Naruto curled up on herself. He leaned over and pushed the sword hilt and all, deep into the snow. Shifting his weight and pushing against the sword, he altered the course of the makeshift sled just enough to dodge a large, sharp rock jutting out from the snow. The sled caught onto some debris, jumping up a few feet causing Naruto to frantically grab Orochimaru's leg and, with some quick thinking, use some chakra to keep herself attached to the sled.

Orochimaru hunched down to avoid some low hanging branches, as the sled flew through the air. Breaching through the tree line, the sled crashed down finally coming to a stop, as its inhabitants were thrown forward.

Naruto, fully sprawled face first, lifted her head, "That was AWESOME!" she began to giggle and tried to get on her feet.

Orochimaru, now gathering his composure as the adrenaline wore off, threw a glare to the giggling girl. She scrambled onto her feet, until all of a sudden, her legs were flung out from under her. A sickening crack rang out on impact. Ice had never been her friend. Naruto now nursing her head, caught a small sign of concern fade into a chuckle on her companion's face.

'He really does look nice when he smiles,' Naruto beamed at the snake man.

Orochimaru scowled a bit embarrassed, "Don't do that again."

"But, it was awesome! And look at you," Naruto crawled forward, toward the sitting Orochimaru, "You had fun," she crooned in an accusing tone reaching forward.

Orochimaru batted her away, "Stop it your hands are cold." He looked down where they were sitting finally seeing where they landed. The ice was cracked and spidered out away from where Naruto initially fell. He rolled his eyes as he was now grabbing both the girl's hands in an attempt to discourage her efforts. He looked down and the blood rushed from his face.

Naruto stopped her giggling fit, noticing their position. She blushed a bit and calmed her motions. He didn't flinch away. Naruto's disposition saddened. It had been so long since someone hadn't done that. She had forgotten how nice it was. To be held. To be wanted. To not be feared. The acceptance she had so desperately wanted. _From the man who ruined your life._ She shook her head. He's a friend now. _Nothing says he can't be both._ Sasuke's face flashed in her memory. She shook her head more fervently. She was just having fun. Why did this have to happen now?

Naruto breathed in looking towards Orochimaru, who was peering at the ice, preparing to explain her mini melt down, "Hey I'm-"

"Shut up."

'What?" Naruto straightened frowning at the man.

Orochimaru clamped a hand over her mouth. He looked thoroughly frazzled,with his hair sticking out and paler than usual complexion.

"If it's the ice, we can water walk. It's no biggie," Naruto whispered through his hand, "Oro, your fingers are cold," she whined.

He motioned her to look down. Naruto peered at the ice seeing all the cracks, made by their ungraceful landing. She focused past the white cut ice into the dark, murky lake water below. A few air bubble floated up to the barrier and a few fish passed underneath. She quickly looked up in concern, wondering if Orochimaru had a fear of water. She wouldn't know.

Orochimaru motioned again downwards and she pouted but did so. She then saw slightly lighter water underneath them. The dark water was moving. It wasn't water at all. Naruto screamed, or she would have if Orochimaru hadn't clamped his hand over her mouth again. The shape, which was easily over a hundred feet in length swept its tail as it propelled itself through the water; but that wasn't their main concern.

"It has an enormous..."

"Chakra level?" Naruto finished, flashing back to when she felt the presence of the chakra beasts in the fight with Madara. All the tailed beasts were absorbed, save for maybe the kyuubi, which she hadn't been able to contact. Besides none of them even remotely resembled the dark shape in the depths, she shakenly whispered, "It's not a tailed beast. What is it?"

Orochimaru shook his head, "I don't know, but we can't risk an unnecessary battle," he looked completely back to his cold serious self, "Who knows what that thing can do and while I'm a Sannin. You're a…" he glanced at her questioning, _pretty_ face, "liability."

"Hey-"

"Not now. Besides Madara may but be interested in us now but a huge output of chakra would definitely be enough to get his attention."

Naruto pouted obviously wanting to try her hand against the challenge but knowing Orochimaru had better judgement skills than her. Well. At least in this regard. Besides not knowing if Kurama was with her, made her feel, exposed, "So what do we do?"

"Sneak across, if it hasn't noticed us yet, we may be in the clear," Orochimaru slowly stood to his feet pulling up Naruto gingerly to not disturb the already fragile ice. While he would love to know more about the creature, he preferred living; and, in every battle scenario he played out in his head, the creature won. He sucked through his teeth, looking at the expanse before them. They couldn't go back the way they came. The ice had broken into separate chunks from the sled impact and was far to brittle to have them walk on. The impact was probably what alerted the creature. He cursed.

He didn't have much experience with ice. He knew something about crawling to spread out your weight but, that would take too long. He thought about using chakra to tell how thick the ice was, but the creature might be able to sense that too. They would have to wing it. He scowled. That was never his favorite option.

He stepped forward gently turning his back toward Naruto and the remnants of the sled, "Carefully, quietly, quickly. No chakra."

Naruto nodded following him.

One step. Two Step. They continued this methodical pace until the dark spot once again circled under them. Orochimaru held his hand to signal 'Stop'; and, Naruto even held her breath. It passed without incident and they continued their journey.

Wind stung their skin. Orochimaru brought up the collar of the jacket and pulled up a bit of cloth over the bottom of his face. He would never return to this desolate land. No matter what knowledge would elude him. Nothing was worth this. Lost in his thoughts he hadn't seen the small crack emerge when he stepped down on the ice.

 _Kichik_

He turned around to see Naruto on a large crack in the ice, looking up at him in sheer fear with a pleading expression, _What do I do?_ He cursed at his carelessness and tried to think of a way out of it. Bad Luck is often impatient however, and the ice gave way underneath Naruto.

Shards flew. Naruto flailed. Orochimaru reached out. Once the freezing water hit her figure, she instinctively released chakra to steady herself on the water's surface. She looked down at the rippling water as the ice floated on the shadowy surface. She looked back up at Orochimaru with an apologetic but fearful expression.

"Oro?"

That was when the creature engulfed her.


	10. Chapter 9

Orochimaru braced himself as the ground beneath him shook and gave way. He steadied himself on the dark lake and gazed upwards at the cascade of frigid water and ice that obscured his vision.

"NARUTO!" he exclaimed looking for any sign of his blonde companion. A gust of air knocked him further back onto solid ice. Unable to catch his fall on such a slick unfamiliar surface, Orochimaru felt his body slam against the ice and slide backwards. Instinctually he drew his sword driving into the floor to stop himself. He winced and through narrowed eyes peered up at the thing assailing him and what he was met with was something out of a nightmare.

A hundred-foot bird like creature hovered not fifty feet away from him. It had a face of a barn owl with a serrated beak formed almost entirely of ice. The feathers circling the owl's face jutted out straight and crystalline forming intricate light blue patterns that slowly darkened to a deep black the further away from the body they got. The black edges took on a whole life of their own and whipped around like black tendrils searching for prey; and its eyes were that same pure black swirling energy that seemed to pull at Orohcimaru's soul. The wings spread out almost completely made of clear ice that lead to large claw-like hands currently curled inwards. Its lower half was a tower of ice reaching into the lake with tendrils sprawling out from under the surface of the water. The face stretched out away from it's body on a long 15-foot serpentine neck and turned 90 degrees to observe the snake man.

As the head drew closer to him, Orochimaru finally caught a glimpse of Naruto, impaled on the crystalline feathers on the crown of the creature's head. Her body was mangled. Her eyes were half lidded and empty. Her face was blank and obscured How…was she….How had he let this happen.

 _Water. She had never been a fan. While fire and wind bent to her will, water remained an element outside of her control. It also didn't share the pain that lightning did when she saw it light up the sky. It just existed as if waiting for something to happen. She hated it._

 _Naruto laid curled on her side in the shallow, lukewarm water. It didn't lap or ripple against her like the roaring lake had. It was completely still. She spread her fingers against the floor feeling the cracks between the stone bricks. She slowly opened her eyes._

' _It's darker than I remember.'_

Orochimaru stood frozen in shock. His mind yelled at him to be ready to fight but, his body wouldn't cooperate. The creature took this opportunity to let out a thunderous roar, kicking up shards of scattered ice and flinging them as projectiles. As one of the ice shards nicked his cheek, Orochimaru finally allowed his body to react. He jumped back drawing his sword. This was just another mission. She was just another teammate. He had to compartmentalize and reevaluate.

He began to straighten his posture and slowly pace around the creature. The owl-like creature followed his movements but kept its distance. He tried to keep his face passive. He couldn't be rash with Naruto in immediate danger, and the creature didn't seem aware of her presence. He began to summon his chakra around him. It felt odd, nostalgic and massive. It was almost a visceral response. Then again, _it had been a long time since he fought like this hadn't it?_

Orochimaru fought against a thudding pain in the back of his head. Now was not the time. The creature pulled its head back and let out a guttural growl, as Orochimaru's chakra grew more and more hostile. The snake man curled his fingers around his blade's handle. He needed to get to Naruto.

 _Naruto curled her fingers into the familiar grooves in the ground. She slowly pulled herself into a sitting position, blearily blinking at the dark mindscape. She watched as a figure approached her, water rippling out and lapping at her legs and wrists. Naruto's eyes widened._

' _It's been awhile hasn't it?' The figure lowered itself to be eye level with the blonde girl._

 _Naruto's eyes softened, 'I thought you were gone.'_

Orochimaru eyed the swirling creature. It craned its neck to keep eye contact with the snake sannin, occasionally chirping in confusion with a bleeding out Naruto still atop its crown. The creature made no attempt to finish off the bloodied blonde alleviating Orochimaru's concern if only a little. The black sparkling eyes traced his figure and Orochimaru prepared himself. He couldn't wait for it to make a move. It was now or never. He lunged toward the creature right as it let out a deafening screech.

 _The walls of her mind chamber rumbled as small debris made ripples in the water below._

' _Why are you still around?' Naruto questioned still sitting on the floor, feeling uncharacteristically weak._

' _Tsk, did you really think it would be that easy?' the dark Naruto looked into the other's eyes with a disapproving expression, 'People spend their whole lives battling their demons,' she continued beginning to slowly pace around the sitting girl, 'Did you really think you had resolved All your trauma and darkness in one small instance?'_

 _Naruto flinched at the last question, feeling even smaller. She wasn't like everyone else. She couldn't be. The 'Other' ethereally vanished and reappeared behind Naruto gently grasping a few strands of hair, 'Right now I bet you're thinking 'I'm not like everyone else'.'_

 _Naruto's eyes widened but, still she sat in a frightened trance._

' _Did you forget, my dear?' the 'Other' appeared in her reflection, 'I'm you.' Naruto sat up instantly, backing away from where the reflection appeared, yet still the Other continued, 'I've always been here. I'll always be here. Because you need me. And,' the Other appeared in front of Naruto cradling her face softly, 'You can't survive without me the way you are now.'_

 _Another rumble shook the corridors as light returned to Naruto's eyes as she shoved the Other away._

Metal sheared across the feathers on the creature's wing sending sparks in every direction. Orochimaru rode down the wingspan heading for his goal, one hand holding his sword the other pressing down on the flat side increasing the pressure. The creature reared his head back as the clone Orochimaru has created diverted his attention back to the icy lake. He needed to limit this creature's mobility if he wanted to retrieve Naruto in one piece and escape. He could still feel the owl's chakra lapping at him almost ripping his own chakra away from him. He couldn't win in a battle of brute force. He might not be able to defeat it at all.

The sparks increased as he neared the base of the wing. He could escape however, and if its anatomy was anything like a real owl's. He flipped back pulling the sword along the base of the wing as the creature howled in pain. Orochimaru smirked as he pushed off the thrashing monster.

"Then cutting the tendon's around the neck and wing would be enough to immobilize it," The creature seeped a black ooze and focused his attention back to the falling man, "That is if I was able to cut deep enough." The creature raised both wings and launched itself towards the still falling sannin. He hadn't.

 _'Hate is a powerful motivator.'_

' _ENOUGH' Naruto cried out, 'How did you get so strong?'_

' _I've always been this strong. It's just you've finally started to face your denial. You're facing your darkness. Your hate. Your fear. Me.'_

 _The 'Other' walked towards Naruto flicking her hand up, summoning a wall to her left, 'You put up walls. And used all that darkness to keep you alive. Like a toddler clinging to her doll or a dying man clinging to consciousness. You really are something. You told yourself you thrived because of your positivity but really you thrived off of the conflict.'_

 _Naruto stepped backwards as panic coursed down her spine. She backed up until once again she felt a wall behind her._

' _You must be so tired. All you've ever done is fight. Fight against Sasuke. Fight against society. Fight against your heritage. Fight against your own emotions. For once in your life, you have a goal but no fight. You have all the time in the world to focus on you.'_

 _Naruto watched as an image of young Naruto appeared in the dim light._

' _You thought you didn't hate, but you just redirected it. Instead of hating the world, you hated yourself. You told yourself you weren't worth it. It was so much easier to believe that. If you could just make everyone else happy then you could forgo your own happiness. But now-'_

 _An image of Orochimaru appeared, 'NO…please stop.' Naruto curled inwards cupping her ears._

 _The 'Other' grabbed Naruto's hands, ' Now, there's an alternative. For the first time, its not what makes everyone else happy. You're starting to wonder what makes Naruto happy. But in order to do that. You must confront the fact that you've been…..unhappy.'_

 _Naruto watched as her vision blurred._

' _You were unhappy when Jiraiya called you Minato in a drunken state. Even more so when you realized who Minato was. You were unhappy when Kakashi ignored you. Even more when you realized why. But you grinned and beared it because its what you thought you deserved. Without all those pressing eyes and unreachable expectations, you suddenly have nothing to push against and now you fall.'_

' _Now there's someone with no expectations. Who understands what it is to be alone, to be hated. Someone you should hate, but you don't And admit it. You feel so much better without all the pressures of Hokage and the village.'_

' _No…' Naruto feebly replied, 'I want to be Hokage..'_

' _Why?'_

' _To protec-_

' _NO! Enough lying! Why?'_

' _To-' Naruto trailed off. 'To matter.'_

' _And that's okay. It's okay to want to be happy. To not meet every expectation. To have differing opinions.'_

' _I thought you were my darkness. Why are you so positive today?' Naruto questioned wiping her tears._

' _I am everything you've been ignoring Naruto, insecurity, hatred and happiness all in one. Everything you've suppressed. Glad I'm still around?' The Other tilted her head holding out a hand. 'There's someone else who agrees with me.' The walls twirled until they appeared in front of a familiar cage._

Orochimaru clenched his teeth staring at the monstrosity. Did it ever tire? He clutched his side. He had hacked away at this thing for what felt like hours. What was this thing? He prepared for another attack when suddenly an eruption of orange chakra came from the beast's head. Was this another one of its attacks?

He watched as a feminine figure formed in the hellish chakra. It pulled the creature's head down with a light touch.

"Naruto….?" Orochimaru watched as the orange chakra subsided revealing a red glowing Naruto, completely absent of all wounds.

"I thought it felt familiar," She watched the creature nuzzle her hand as if it hadn't just mauled her, "It's a chakra beast. Without people around, its like there's too much chakra around. So I guess a bunch of it came together here. It might even have some of the villager's chakra from nearby.

"What makes you say that?" he questioned sword still drawn waiting for the creature to try to take a bite out of her.

"Kurama told me."

"Kurama?"

"Yeah! The kyuubi," Naruto turned letting out a bright smile.

"Oh yeah, the kyuubi…" Orochimaru deflated falling to he knees head in hands. One of his shadow clones even reached down to pat his back.

"What?" Naruto questioned allowing the beast to pull away from her touch, "It's fine now Kurama helped me calm it down. It just felt our chakra and was curious. Its actually kinda cute!"

Orochimaru looking haggard and exhausted looked up to his troublesome companion's eyes as she said goodbye to the owl, "Are you okay at least?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, well no, well I wasn't I guess but I am now I think?" Naruto flailed as she babbled on and walked past the poor, befuddled man.

Orochimaru dead panned, "Is this a woman thing?"

His clone raised an eyebrow and helplessly shook his head, "I think it's a Naruto thing," then puffed into a bit of smoke.

Naruto turned around, "And its all thanks to you," She beamed.

Orochimaru felt his face heat and his pulse quicken.

"Oh you don't look well! I completely missed it," she thunked her hand against her head in a 'duh motion', "You're flushed and bleeding! Let me help," she reached down attempting to help her friend to his feet.

"I'm fine," he remarked sullenly pulling away from her touch and standing up.

'Come on! I thought we were past this."

He frustrating approached her, scaring Naruto for a moment until he abruptly grabbed her hand dragging her forward towards the shore.

"Whatever it was," he looked over he shoulder," I'm glad you're okay."

This time Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

Curiosity without control is just madness


End file.
